Beyeler hired as Boston’s first base coach

As a minor-league coach and manager for the last 16 years, Arnie Beyeler has had the opportunity to deliver to dozens and dozens of players the news that they had been called up. On Tuesday, he got that call.

As a minor-league coach and manager for the last 16 years — including nine years in the Boston organization — Arnie Beyeler has had the opportunity to deliver to dozens and dozens of players the news that they’ve been called up to the major leagues.

On Tuesday, Beyeler finally got his own call to the majors.

The former Pawtucket Red Sox manager was named onTuesday the first-base coach on the staff of new manager John Farrell in Boston. An infielder who peaked in Triple A and a manager who had to that point advanced only as far as Triple A, is on his way to the big leagues for the first time.

Needless to say, even though Beyeler had interviewed with Farrell and the Boston front office last week, he didn’t have any expectations he’d get the job. He was thrilled when the call came Tuesday.

“I got an unbelievable rush when [Farrell] told me,” he said. “We tell guys they’re going to the big leagues all the time. I’ve never gotten that feeling. I’ve never had anybody tell me that.”

Even Beyeler, 48, had to acknowledge the fit was natural. An organizational fixture for the better part of the last decade, his relationship with the front-office staff made for a job interview that felt like just another day at the office.

He’s worked with Ben Cherington. He’s worked with Mike Hazen. Both were player-development directors before they moved up in the hierarchy.

He knows Torey Lovullo, his predecessor as PawSox manager. He goes back two decades with bullpen coach Gary Tuck, too; the two were scouts together in Florida in the early 1990s and coached together in the New York Yankees’ minor-league system a few years later.

“It was just different than any interview I’ve ever been to,” he said. “It was comfortable. With everybody being around, talking to people, we were just doing what we do every day. I even mentioned that, ‘Wow, what a great fit this would be to be part of this staff because of that.’ These are guys I respect and want to continue to learn from.”

That Beyeler had tremendous success with Triple-A Pawtucket only made his inclusion on the staff in Boston an easier decision. He piloted the PawSox to International League playoff appearances in back-to-back seasons, including a Governors’ Cup title in September — the team’s first championship in 28 years.

The hallmark of the Beyeler-managed PawSox teams that have made two straight International League playoff appearances has been turnover. Injuries have pummeled the Red Sox, forcing the organization to summon a continuous stream of reinforcements from its Triple-A affiliate. Almost two dozen players from the PawSox roster contributed to the Red Sox in some fashion.

By the time Pawtucket defeated Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Charlotte en route to a Governors’ Cup title, the entire PawSox starting rotation had turned over from what it had been to start the season.

Quite a few of those players figure to share a dugout with him at Fenway Park next season. Daniel Bard, Pedro Ciriaco, Felix Doubront, Jose Iglesias, Ryan Lavarnway and Will Middlebrooks are only a handful of the young players who have spent significant time with Beyeler either at Pawtucket or Double-A Portland — or both.

The opportunity to coach in the major leagues has been a long time coming for Beyeler, whose playing career culminated with 80 plate appearances at Triple-A Toledo in 1991.

But the 20 years he’s spent riding the buses around the minor leagues since then, he wouldn’t trade that for the world — especially now that it’s gotten him to the majors.

“Some guys are fast-track guys and move up for whatever reason,” he said. “I tend to think it’s a blessing I got to spend the time I did where I did. I know I appreciate where I came from. I learned a lot being down there. I hope to continue to take that where I go and to continue to do the same thing. It’s about coaching players and trying to get them to be the best they can be. It’s not about me at all.”